Our family is under an unusual amount of stress today. I'm not the only one dealing with stress; many of you are probably more stressed than I am. There is not a thing I can do to make this particular stress go away. The only control I have is my response to the stress. Two of the response choices I can control are diet and exercise.

As I cleaned up the kitchen this morning I noticed that my husband and I deal with stress and food very differently. He stops eating, and I eat more. He only ate half of his breakfast this morning - I've already had breakfast twice. I need to make sure that I plan meals that will entice him to eat and give him maximum nutrition in small servings. I must watch myself and make sure that extra food I eat is filling and good for Os. So far I'm doing ok - my extra breakfast was a plate of carrot sticks dipped in sesame butter.

I plan to swim this morning. I must make sure that I manage my time so that I get to the pool and have a vigorous swim. Even as I type this I'm thinking about how much better I will feel when I get my body moving fast. Tonight I will encourage my husband to take the dog for a walk around the park near our house. That would be the more relaxing kind of exercise that his Type A body needs.

Another choice I can make is to affirm that nothing happens to me that surprises God, and that his plans for my life are good. I can pray that God will work through the stressful circumstances to bring about good for my family and for others. I started doing that even as I washed up the dishes.